Seventh Day of Hunger Strike by Keyvan Roshouzadeh, Kurdish Political Prisoner, in Protest Against Torture

Keyvan Roshouzadeh, a Kurdish political prisoner, is on the seventh day of his hunger strike in solitary confinement at Urmia Central Prison, reportedly still deprived of medical care for "injuries resulting from torture by prison officials." The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported on Tuesday, April 23, that this political prisoner has been repeatedly subjected to beatings by prison officials in recent days, but under the orders of Payman Khanzadeh, the prison warden, he remains denied access to medical services. Meanwhile, Roshouzadeh's family's attempts to visit him and request a phone call have been met with opposition from prison authorities. According to the report, on April 17, prison guards "raided" the political and ideological prisoners' section of Urmia Central Prison and transferred Roshouzadeh, who has a history of hunger strikes and protests regarding his case, to solitary confinement after "beating him." On the same day, this political prisoner was again moved to the main prison area and "under the orders of the authorities, was tortured by prison guards with batons." According to several political prisoners, including Shaker Behrouz and Ardavan Tahorian, who were on hunger strike with him in solitary confinement and were returned to the general ward on April 22 after stopping their hunger strike, Roshouzadeh has been "severely tortured and is being held in poor conditions in solitary confinement." Keyvan Roshouzadeh, a Kurdish citizen residing in Urmia, was arrested on October 8, 2019, along with four other citizens by security forces and transferred to the youth section of Urmia Central Prison after a month of interrogation. After a year of uncertainty, this political prisoner was charged with "acting against national security" through membership in the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan. His ten-year sentence was reduced to 7 years and 6 months after a plea for submission. Previously, Roshouzadeh had also gone on a hunger strike in June 2022, sewing his lips together for several days in protest against the prison authorities' and Urmia Intelligence's refusal to grant him leave. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported in Bahman 1402 that multiple instances of civil rights violations against Kurds have occurred, including the execution of 10 prisoners by the Islamic Republic's judiciary. The monthly report from the Kurdistan Human Rights Network indicates that at least 12 Kurdish citizens and activists have received death sentences, imprisonment, lashes, and fines from the Islamic Revolutionary Courts, criminal courts, and the Supreme Court in Tehran, Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, and Ilam provinces on political charges. Additionally, at least 54 Kurdish citizens and activists have been arrested by security agencies on political and ideological charges in various cities across Iran. The UN fact-finding committee, in its first report on March 9 of last year, accused the Islamic Republic of "committing serious human rights violations" and "crimes against humanity" during the "violent suppression of peaceful protests and widespread discrimination against women and girls."